Following on from previous newsletters, a brief report on the discussions and decisions made by the Institute’s Board of Directors for the period January 2023 to June 2023 is provided. The purpose of the newsletters is to keep both staff and students aware of the Board’s activities.

External review of the performance and effectiveness of the MIT Board of Directors

• Accepted the Winchester Report on the Review of the performance and effectiveness of the MIT Board of directors at the February meeting.
• Approved the Implementation Plan in response to the Winchester review of the MIT Board performance at the June meeting.
• The Board will progressively monitor its implementation of the recommendation over the next 12-24 months.

 Policies and procedures approved

• Revised Staff Complaints Policy and Procedure.
• Revised Enrolment Policy and Procedure.
• Revised Student Academic Progress Policy and Procedure.
• Revised Substitution of Core Units Policy and Procedure.  

Implementation Plan for MIT Strategic Plan 2023-2027

• Endorsed the draft Implementation Plan for Strategic Plan (2023-27) at its May meeting.   

Strategic Marketing Plan 2021-2023 Progress Report

• Accepted the progress report on the Strategic Marketing Plan (2021-2023) at its June meeting. 

Board self-evaluation of performance 2022

• The Board undertakes a self-evaluation of its performance each year.
• Completed the 2022 Board self-evaluation, the results of which were considered and proposed actions approved. 

Academic Board

• Approved the Terms of Reference for the external review of the Academic Board and approved the review panel for the external review consisting of Emeritus Prof. John Loxton (as Chair), Emeritus Prof. Peter Schmidt, and Dr Maree Gosper.
• Accepted the Academic Board’s feedback on the TEQSA Guidance Note on Research and Research Training and noted the recommendations contained therein. 
• Appointed Dr Jayasinghe Hewa Dulige as academic staff representative (SOB Melb), Dr Xiaoying Kong as academic staff representative (SITE, Syd), and Ms Neha Malhotra as Alumni representative, all for a term of 2 years.
• Approved the extension of Mr Warwick Spargo’s term as external industry member (Business discipline) for a further 3 months
• Appointment of Mr Ankit Gahlot a student member (Melbourne Campus) for term of 7 months

Student Experience Committee

• Accepted the 2021 Report on the Annual Review of MIT Relative Performance on QILT Indications and endorsed the recommendations contained in the report.
• Accepted the 2022 SEC Self-Assessment Report and endorsed the recommendations from the self-assessment.
• Appointed Ms Jenifer Rosario and Ms Tapaswini Gone as a student members (Sydney Campus), both for a term of 1 year.

MIT HR Function Review

• Accepted the KPMG Report on MIT HR Function Review 2022 at its March meeting and requested that the Executive Management Committee provide a considered response to the recommendations from the KPMG Report. 

Review of Implementation of Delegations Policy

• Accepted the ShineWing Report on the Review of the Implementation of the Delegations Policy 2022 at its May meeting and adopted the Executive Management Committee’s advice on the recommendations arising from the report.  

Financials and FY24 Budget

• Considered the quarterly financials at its February and May meetings.
• The Board approved the FY2024 Budget at its June meeting. 

Discontinuation of 9 short courses                                

• Approved the discontinuation of the following 9 short courses, noting that these courses were accredited during the COVID-19 pandemic. Post pandemic, the federal government funding for short courses ceased. MIT has no students currently enrolled in these courses:
  • Undergraduate Certificate in Cyber Security and Networking
  • Undergraduate Certificate in Data Analytics
  • Undergraduate Certificate in Information Technology
  • Undergraduate Certificate in UX/UI and Digital Technology
  • Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
  • Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security
  • Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security and Networking
  • Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics
  • Graduate Certificate in Information Technology

 Performance of Education Agents

• Accepted the annual report on Agents Performance Review for 2022 at its May meeting and endorsed the recommendations contained in the report.

 Risk and Risk Management

• Reviewed and approved changes to the Risk Register, following regular reviews and recommendations from the Audit and Risk Management Committee.  A notable change to the Risk Register is the creation of a new separate Risk 14(b) for Cyber Security.

Cyber Security

• Following from the Board’s decision to make Cyber Security a standing agenda item, the Board has considered cyber security issues regularly at its meetings:
  • At its February meeting, the Board considered the paper from the Chair of the Academic Board on ChatGPT.  
  • At its March meeting, the Board considered the Report from MIT’s IT Manager on cyber-attacks and discussed data protection issues.
  • At its May meeting, a special presentation on cyber security was given by Mr Julian Challingworth, Managing Director of Spirit Technology Solutions.  The Board noted Mr Challingworth’s recommended areas relating to cyber security for organisations to address including: ransomware attack readiness; an Essential 8 review; and a data and privacy review.

The Board of Directors

• Emeritus Professor Wayne Robinson (Chair)
• Professor David Battersby (Deputy Chair)
• Dr Shesh Ghale, h.c. (Chief Executive Officer)
• Jamuna Gurung (Owners’ Representative)
• Emeritus Professor Doug Grant(Chair of the Academic Board)
• Mr James Joughin (Appointed member)
• Dr. Patricia Stewart (Appointed Member)

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